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TAOISEACH LEO VARADKAR has said that the issue of evidence given by gardaí in the Jobstown trial conflicting with video evidence is something that should be looked at by the garda commissioner and senior garda management.
Paul Murphy, who was one of the men on trial accused of falsely imprisoning Joan Burton, has led the calls for a public inquiry into the garda investigation after all men were acquitted last week.
In an interview with RTÉ’s Prime Time, the Taoiseach said that he didn’t think a public inquiry into the Jobstown investigation “would actually serve any purpose”.
In a wide-ranging interview, Varadkar also discussed the recent furore over a blogger approached by gardaí after criticising Regina Doherty on social media and female representation at cabinet level.
“People need to trust the gardaí”
When asked about the Jobstown trial, and the role that Paul Murphy played in it, Varadkar discussed the role of garda evidence on the stand. He said:
We need to be able to trust that when the Gardai stand up in court and they say something happened that it did happen and it shouldn’t conflict with video evidence and if it does then that is a problem.
The Taoiseach said that he would be “very concerned if it’s the case that we would ever have gardaí on a stand in the court giving evidence that is not in line with the facts”.
He said it was something that needed to be looked at by both garda commissioner Nóirín O’Sullivan and senior garda management.
While he did not think a public inquiry was warranted, he said that these issues need to be looked at. He said:
I don’t think a public inquiry would actually serve any purpose, you know we’ve had a trial. There’s been a trial, went on for nine weeks, the jury heard the evidence from both sides, and they decided to acquit and nobody is disputing that.
As has been the case with other things, you know for example the trial of Sean Fitzpatrick, I do think we need to consider why the prosecutions weren’t successful. I don’t think this necessarily requires a public inquiry but we do need to obviously examine these things.
In a statement this evening, Paul Murphy said that Varadkar’s comments were “the first crack in the wall of opposition to a public inquiry”.
He said that the admission from the Taoiseach that the evidence from some gardaí was contradictory to the video evidence “reaffirms the need for an independent public inquiry”.
Women in politics
Varadkar again defended the female representation in his cabinet and said 10 of 12 female TDs that support the government are in “paid promotional positions”.
“The difficulty is that we don’t have women members of parliament, TDs in the Dáil,” he said.
He said that “we have a long way to go”, and that he was determined to ensure that representation of women is increased in the next Dáil.
Speaking about the recent controversy involving a blogger being cautioned by gardaí after a complaint was made based on criticism of Social Protection Minister Regina Doherty, Varadkar said that he didn’t know the details of it.
He added: “I would imagine that if anyone was cautioned by the Gardai it would be done for legitimate reason. You know, Gardai don’t caution people because of interpersonal disputes or a civil offence.”
On the issue of the Eighth Amendment, Varadkar said that he believed Ireland’s abortion laws are “too restrictive” but wouldn’t be drawn on how these laws should change.
The Taoiseach also said that he was a “little bit surprised” that the Citizens’ Assembly recommended unlimited access to abortion, but wasn’t surprised that it suggested repealing or replacing the Eighth.
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So concerned he’s gonna do absolutely nothing about it
A very impressive performance by Leo on Prime Time. SF/FF and the hard left will be worried.
@P C: no – just think ordinary citizens should be.. slipper character.
P C. Yes he is a very good actor alright, He should be on the stage.
@ray.farrelly: the sign of a ‘good’ politician
@P C:
Well FF should be worried. SF and the hard left shouldn’t be too worried. They are never going to get in to a position of power and very much target the voters who are anti FG or FF regardless of what policies they would introduce, SF will probably lose some votes to FG but the the majority of them will be demonstrating the flock mentality and voting anti government
@ray.farrelly: the first stage out of town preferably.
Well now Leo the lady who wrote the article on Regina Doherty and her failed business was only writing the truth so how can the guards be legitimate in stopping her from leaving Ireland? Surely that could have made contact with her before she got to the airport. I think we need an inquiry into this. Seem to me your ministers are running amuck, what with Simon thinking he could commandeer a helicopter and now Regina having her own private security team to question someone who writes about her. Morally that’s wrong
@Mary Murphy: its clear Ms Doherty’s issue with the journalist and professor in political studies is a civil matter and if she has any recourse it’s through a deformation case in the Courts. Doherty had no business in making a Garda complaint as no criminality had occurred. The Garda also knew this and no doubt told her so. BUT the Garda reacting in the way they did, only illustrated the political nature of their involvement with the State. And their willingness to bully individuals on behalf of a Minister.
Doherty should step down, totally immature. And we as citizens should be rightly worried in the light of Jobstown, and the MacCabe debacle.
@Martin Critten: very good points. A member of government using their political power and utilising state resources to undertake a personal civil agenda would require a resignation in most civilised counties.
@jason bourne: yeh but this is not a civilised country because just look at how these goughers threat the citizens of the state. We are just the dregs who stupidity re-elect them and this is due to the fact that the people of Ireland have on average the lowest IQ in the EU which is due to emigration over the years where the brightest left the country and the dumbest entered politics representing FF/FG. The civil war is over so stop voting for them because all you are doing is shooting yourself in the foot as their agenda has nothing to do with civil war politics only neo-liberalism which is why you die in Waterford if you have a cardiac at the weekend.
” video evidence is something that should be looked at by the garda commissioner and senior garda management”
*should be* if only you were in a position to do something about it Leo… Oh wait.
Enda Kenny and Fine Gael entered government by default. Now Leo masquerades as Taoiseach without any public support. (the leadership contest might have played out like an election but it certainly wasn’t)
How long must we put up with this charade?
@Mark DeFriest:
The Taoiseach is never elected!! It’s always a Dail vote
@Tweety McTweeter: true but before he gets elected as Taoiseach his party gets a mandate form the electorate
@Christopher Doyle:
His party does have a mandate. They got more seats than any other party. They commanded a majority vote in the Dail for the election of the Taoiseach.
@Tweety McTweeter:
Well he certainly has no mandate from the people. And I doubt he ever will given the extreme right wing nature of his political vision.
@Mark DeFriest:
Extreme right wing? Are you kidding? He’s no Marine Le Pen, he only suggested that (god forbid!) working people should be given a break
@Tweety McTweeter:
Stop dressing it up, he’s a Tory straight from the Thatcher rule book plain and simple, a neo liberalist intent on destroying the working class. Anything that threatens private business’s ability to make profit is an enemy of the state as far as Leo is concerned.
@Tweety McTweeter: A minority government depending on independents and backroom deals the sees FF fool people and makes a sham of democracy by playing the part of opposition and coalition partner.
“We need to trust that when the gardaí stand up and say something happened, that it did happen” – a very startling comment from our new leader.. ah yea just believe what you hear, say nothing and move on .. lord
@Marc Gallagher: you misquoted.
Would the blogger be cautioned by the Guards if his target was a male politician i wonder? Somehow i doubt it. Are female politicians some special breed above criticism now?
classic Leo curve ball who of course has form in throwing people or organisation under the bus when it suits . Them Guards won’t be happy after all the will have seen themselves as taking one for the team only the be dumped when there caught yet again lying through their collective teeth .
@patrick gilmartin: you don’t understand how criminal cases work.
Being found not guilty does not mean a witness lied.
By comparing the ‘lack of prosecution’ in the Sean Fitzpatrick trial to the ‘Not Guilty’ in the Paul Murphy and Co trial, exposes Leo for the charlatan that he is. Playing politics, deliberately misleading and pandering to prospective new voters. What a sleeveen.
“giving evidence that is not in line with the facts”
Giving evidence that is not in line with the facts is called lying. Giving evidence that is not in line with the facts in a court of law is called perjury. It would the corruption is set to continue under Leo’s watch. Banana republic.
The state police were caught red handed committing purgery and colluding to commit purgery and it looks like there will be no consequences.
From the Gardai website: The Mission of An Garda Síochána is Working with Communities to Protect and Serve
Who were they protecting and serving here?
@Shakka1244: they should be sent to purgatory
@Shakka1244:
What’s purgery ?
What does it say when the leader of a country expects the head of a police force who is themselves under investigation for corrupt practices within their force, to undertake a further investigation into yet more corruption within the force? Lynda Le Plant couldn’t make this up! Great little country this.
Leo pull your socks up ,and sort the problems within the Gaurds before all credibility,when they take to the witness stand drains away
Must be investigated otherwise it sends out a message from the taoiseach that it’s ok to lie.one taoiseach did that,enda Kenny,was enough.but the garda cannot investigate it,for results to have any credibility,which the gda force does not have.and the taoiseach knows this.
Leo its called perjury
All socks no substance!
Poitical Policing,
Oh lets have another expensive inquiry, because we all know the outcome of such are acted on. Pfft… lets just waste more tax payers money for no benefit.
How about the DPP is held directly accountable for the disgraceful lack of due diligence and waste of public resources?
Why are Noirin O’Sullivan & her corrupt regime quiet after Jobstown six were cleared? Aren’t they going to discipline & sack the Gardai who fed the false evidence to court? These shameful people belong to prison….
@Thosj Carroll: on prime time they mentioned, they started an internal investigate the day after the verdict. What will come of this is a different story though.
It’s well known that recollections differ under duress. Does anyone remember the joke by the two Ronnies about the bank that was robbed. Police have collected statements from 10 witnesses who saw the suspect clearly and are looking for a 6ft tall dwarf with red/brown/blonde/black hair that is somewhere between short, long and medium weighing between 9 and 19 stone.
@Sean: Yes but, everyone didn’t remember the same wrong version.
An enquiry is not the way to go on this. There are 3 Gardai who should be facing perjury charges.
Where did the Video footage come from?, was it from the mobile phones of people on the protest,? , was it edited ? Was it from Official Garda Cameras ? Gardai made statements after the event, thay were hardly able to write down everything that happened on he site as it occurred . This incident went on for three or four hours, Gardai tried to record on paper what they seen happening at the scene. Even if you were at a football match, sitting beside your best friend, both of you could record different versions of events, that is not uncommon. If every statement was the same, they would be assured of collaborating and the media would again go to town. The Jury gave a verdict and that is the end, if they were found guilty they would had a field day complaining.
.
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@Eugene Comaskey: what they saw…. not seen
Thought it was a bloody awful interview by prime time – Leo got a better grilling by his George Foreman making a cheesy toastie at home
“Video evidence of Gardai should be looked at by senior Garda Management and by the Commissioner.” Why? They were the ones who told them to lie.
How on Earth did the trial carry on then like that?
The Garda will investigate themselves
And sort all this out
I would of loved to have protested but I had to work on a weekday – I had bills to pay and taxes to pay
@Niall: Don’t panic Niall , those people had your back , they stood up for the people who opposed the water charges .
@Niall: would have loved to……not of
So every single time a case is lost the gardai should be prosecuted? They have their evidence honestly. At the end the case was not proven beyond all reasonable doubt. That does not equal perjury.
Maybe Leo should let a legal expert, like the judge in the trial, make the decision on if perjury should be considered.
@Karl: Leo said that he respected both the outcome and the decision made and that an inquiry is not necessary – he said that an internal review should be set up regarding procedure of how guards engage with evidence and at trial – which is underway
Yes Leo you need more like Zappone,Fitzgerald, Doherty, great girls all together at passing a book. They should have been demoted like Blondie.
I don’t know which is worse – these spineless cowards trapping the 2 women , or the gardai exaggerating the testimony . Clowns on both sides
@Jack Murphy: objectively – don’t see why the defence had to go as far as they did between verbal abuse etc (which we don’t need to get into) but why did the guards lie, why did they have to? Very wrong on both sides – which to be fair, it’s sad to see, but glad majority of people recognise it
@Jack Murphy: do u have Alzheimer’s? You repeated yourself almost verbatim one hour after your original post.
Video Evidence spoke for itself, Guilty as Charged!
These guys are women trapping bullies, there was no need for the gardai to exaggerate their accounts , clowns on all sides !
Sort it then ye dopey Muppet
Wait until he hears the Air Corps evidence about how they poisoned their staff… http://www.accas.info
In an interview with RTÉ’s Prime Time, Varadkar said that he didn’t think a public inquiry into the Jobstown investigation “would actually serve any purpose”.
A phrase that mirrors what CJ Haughey said after a child in State care was abducted and murdered by a former member of the clergy.
So there will be no public inquiry into Jobstown. If the State wouldn’t do it for a murdered child there isn’t a hope in hell of the State inquiring into the vindictive prosecution of citizens exercising their democratic right to protest.
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